A B747-400 had to stop on the taxiway due to fuel venting from the right surge tank. Passengers were...

Narrative:

Pushed late due to lack of cockpit bunk linens. Immediately upon taxi after pushback ramp controller was notified by another taxiing aircraft and the FAA tower that our airplane was venting fuel out the right wing. We then stopped and called maintenance control who directed us to deal with local maintenance. We suspected fuel venting from the surge tanks as our wing tanks were full and the sun had been beating down on the aircraft. #3 main was 81.7 and # 4 main was 30.6. Crash fire rescue equipment was deployed and informed us we were venting approximately 2 to 3 gallons a minute. They suggested we shut down the right side engines and we shut down all engines. Maintenance then tried to transfer some fuel to the center tank from the #3 main; but were unsuccessful. After 15 minutes fire personnel suggested we deplane the people and we did so using doors 2L and 4L using ground transportation. Maintenance and fuel personnel entered the airplane through the east and east compartment and tried to figure out why the fuel would not transfer. It eventually did when the proper switches were selected on the external fueling panel on the wing. Fire department estimated we vented approximately 200 gallons of fuel. We then were towed to a gate and the flight crew deplaned and returned to the hotel.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B747-400 had to stop on the taxiway due to fuel venting from the right surge tank. Passengers were evacuated and transported to the terminal while Maintenance and CFR crews resolved the problems.

Narrative: Pushed late due to lack of cockpit bunk linens. Immediately upon taxi after pushback Ramp Controller was notified by another taxiing aircraft and the FAA Tower that our airplane was venting fuel out the right wing. We then stopped and called Maintenance Control who directed us to deal with Local Maintenance. We suspected fuel venting from the surge tanks as our wing tanks were full and the sun had been beating down on the aircraft. #3 main was 81.7 and # 4 main was 30.6. CFR was deployed and informed us we were venting approximately 2 to 3 gallons a minute. They suggested we shut down the right side engines and we shut down all engines. Maintenance then tried to transfer some fuel to the center tank from the #3 main; but were unsuccessful. After 15 minutes fire personnel suggested we deplane the people and we did so using doors 2L and 4L using ground transportation. Maintenance and Fuel Personnel entered the airplane through the E and E compartment and tried to figure out why the fuel would not transfer. It eventually did when the proper switches were selected on the external fueling panel on the wing. Fire department estimated we vented approximately 200 gallons of fuel. We then were towed to a gate and the flight crew deplaned and returned to the hotel.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	867535
Time
Date	200912
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B747-400
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 500 Flight Crew Total 20000 Flight Crew Type 7000
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 210 Flight Crew Total 14000 Flight Crew Type 1800
Events
Anomaly	Other Fuel Spill

A B747-400 had to stop on the taxiway due to fuel venting from the right surge tank. Passengers were evacuated and transported to the terminal while maintenance and crash fire rescue equipment crews resolved the problems.